"The Master" Review

Well, it comes every year, and I enjoy every minute of it. Awards season. The films that make us put away our soda-helmets we wore while cheering on The Avengers and Batman, and have us put on our thinking caps.

Am I saying that all Oscar bait is boring? Absolutely not. Quite the opposite. If anything, these films make us re-evaluate our own lives and better ourselves. They are often the more memorable films from a year. They are so well crafted, and full of sub-text, that you grow as a person for understanding it.

The Master is no exception, it stars Joaquin Phoenix (For the life of me I have no idea how to pronounce his first name. No judging me, please.) as Freddie Quell, a violent World War II veteran who uses his alcoholism as an escape for his troubles when trying to resume his after the war. He soon meets L. Ron Hubbard Lancaster Dodd, (Philip Seymour Hoffman) the founder of a new, unconventional religon known as Scientology "The Cause." Dodd sees potential for growth in Freddie, and takes him under his wing as his protege, despite protests from his wife (Amy Adams) and the rest of the cause.


The film is surely to receive Oscar nominations for its superior cast. Philip Seymour Hoffman takes the writing of Paul Thomas Anderson, and turns it into a performance he can call his own. His thinly veiled cariacture of L. Ron Hubbard is remarkably well embodied. At times he seems to be a charismatic fellow, who wants nothing more than to help people. Yet conversely, at other times the sense of self-doubt and possble fraud comes to the surface and conveys it's dark and unsettling nature. He shows a wonderful range from all ends of the spectrum.

Joaquin Phoenix gives his all with his portrayal of the disturbed loner who everyone can relate to at one point in their life. He has the little ticks and quirks that make him unique, and fully engrossed in his acting. Whether its the way he holds his arms on his waist or the subtle squint in his eyes when talking to someone, you never feel like you're watching an actor in a movie, you feel taken into his world. His emotion rages from his body when he is upset, and the intensity of his conditions are presented in full technicolor. Nothing held back.

What really took me through a loop with this movie was the performance of Amy Adams. Normally, the good girl, soft-spoken, here she is somewhat terrifying. At the beginning, you get the normal vibe from her, yet as the film goes on, you realize she is not one to be taken lightly. I shall say no more, other than it is a superb step in her career.

The story could have tackled scientology head-on and been a biography, yet the dramatization is a much more creative touch. If all you know about the religion is from the controversial "South Park" episode, you will still be able to get a sense of what it is all about. The film doesn't boast it's religous undertones like a logo in the corner of the screen, and it is for the better. You become entranced in story of one man's struggle rather than a pamphlet of someone elses beliefs.

I highly recomend this movie to anyone who wishes to do some higher thinking, yet at the same time, I would wait until it comes to a theater closer to you.


A-